TonyStrecher

Yeah I know. That's why I'm not complaining about the fact Sautner got called up instead of him.

Wiercioch is the 11th d-man on the Canucks right now in my opinion. Tanev, Edler, Del Zotto, Pouliot, Hutton, Stecher, Gudbranson, Biega, Holm and McEneny are all ahedaa of him. Holm just got back from injury and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Canucks call him up and send down Sautner once Holm gets up to game speed. Gudbranson could play tomorrow.

Interesting to see him called up to the Canucks. I guess they really don't have any better options with Holm and McEneny injured and Wiercioch one day away from having to clear waivers again. Anyone watch Utica games regularly and have any thoughts on his play so far this season. He seems to have taken on quite a big role, especially with all the injuries they've been having. If the Canucks defense suffers another injury is he capable of stepping in for a few games, or would the Canucks just call up Wiercioch and risk losing him on waivers when they send him down again?

He hasn't produced enough offense to earn a more sheltered top 6 role in the NHL. His game simply isn't suited for the bottom six.

Boucher has been putting up great numbers in the AHL for years, it has yet to translate to the NHL and I kinda doubt it ever will

I think Harvard will be a great place for Rathbone, especially if Adam Fox and Reilly Walsh are still there to mentor him. Has anyone been able to find Rathbone's stats with Dexter anywhere?

I could definitely see Pettersson ending up as a winger. I still think that it`s likely that he will end up as a center a few years down the road. He`ll never be a Getzlaf/Kopitar/Thornton center. The Sedins were quite successful players in the NHL for many years weighing about 180-185 pounds each, Henrik was a center playing up against the other big Pacific Division centers and was quite successful.

The worst thing that could happen in my opinion is Virtanen getting sent down or Gaunce getting waived and sent down

I really like how Gaunce played last night and down in the AHL. Gagner is just starting to get in an offensive groove. If anything Virtanen deserves more minutes not being scratched. I honestly don't see any reasonable solution other than rotating Eriksson, Gaunce, Gagner, Virtanen and Burmistrov with 2 in the lineup every night.

Anyone know what's up with Gadjovich's injury? Wasn't he supposed to only miss a game or two?

Anyone have any thoughts as to what sort of contract Baertschi will get at the end of the year? I'm thinking something like 4 years, $4m AAV

Since Edler went down with injury, Hutton has been playing more than guys like Brent Burns, Mark Giordano, Ryan McDonagh and Brent Seabrook. I think he's looked very impressive, he hasn't put up great offensive numbers, but that's not for lack of trying (29 SOG so far). He has also looked good defensively. I think that he could eventually develop into a legitimate top pairing defenseman which the Canucks will really need. They have a lot of solid young d-men (Stecher, Juolevi, Holm, McEneny, Chatfield) but they are lacking someone who shows elite potential.

Gaunce has looked really good down in Utica. Was probably their best player last night. 3 GP, 2G, 1A, 3PTS, 8SOG. No matter who he plays with up with the Canucks, they will be better than who he played with last year. I expect him to prove that he is a solid bottom 6 forward who can produce some offense as well as being very good defensively.

Pettersson currently has 1.15 PPG in the SHL as an 18 year old (though he will turn 19 in a couple weeks) . The last time an under 20 player scored above 1 PPG was 1992-93 when Peter Forsberg had 1.23 and Markus Naslund had 1.00 Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Niklas Backstrom and William Nylander are a few examples of players at the same age who had less than 1 PPG If Pettersson turns out as good as the Sedins, Backstrom, Naslund and Nylander that would be awesome. But his stats so far are showing that he might be even better than those players and possibly in a similar category of one of the greatest players of all-time in Forsberg.